Occasionally, states set up humanitarian admission programmes for persons from regions with acute conflict. They thereby declare their willingness to take up a certain number of people in need of protection. Germany has regularly set up admission programmes in the past. Since 2013, approximately 20,000 persons from Syria were able to enter Germany through three federal admission programmes. However, the admission programmes of the federation are now closed. A renewal of the programme is not currently scheduled.
The Federal Republic of Germany consists of 16 federal states. With the exception of Bavaria, all federal states established their own admission programmes for specific groups, particularly for family members not belonging to the core family (spouses and underage children). Most of the programmes were either limited from the beginning or not extended, so that the programmes are only still implemented in a few states (Thuringia, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Berlin)-
UNHCR is not involved in these programmes. Therefore, any queries from individuals in relation to these complementary admission programmes should be directed by the relatives residing in Germany to the competent authorities of the relevant Federal State, notably the local aliens authority (“Ausländerbehörde”) or the Ministry of the Interior of the relevant federal state. Please note that one of the main requirements is that the relatives in Germany are able to financially support the family members to be admitted (“Verpflichtungserklärung”).
More information regarding the different admission programmes can be found here, here and here.